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Welcome to my January 2005 travel journal.
Ok flight on Continental Airlines to Houston, not too impressed with the food and they charged for alcoholic drinks !!! Massive queues at immigration and end up just getting to the gate for my Lima flight ... as the plane is backing off the gate. While queuing for the Service desk met this very upset Danish girl Sif, who had missed her flight to El Salvador, they put us up in the same hotel, Sheraton near the airport. Had a really nice meal together, she had to be up for an early flight the next morning so I was left in the bar. (Surprise!! you all say!!) Once I had finally convinced an airport worker that I was not gay, and his comments and chat up lines would not work, ended up playing pool with an American Football player, and Brendan from London who had been delayed on his way home from Mexico.
Get to the airport at 12.00, leaving 4 hours should be ok to get through customs??
Only 1 flight a day to Lima at 1605 not really much happening at Houston Airport although it does take 30 minutes to walk all the way round.... Eventually arrive at Lima, only a day late !! I had managed to phone Jon at his Hotel. So he was not worrying... Only Problem is, my luggage is not to be found !! OK come on now this is only day 2 !!! Eventually find it with the help of the local ground staff. Taxi to Central Lima takes about 20 minutes, The Hotel Maury, is right in the Red Light District of town, and not recommended to be wandering around at night. Jon is there waiting in the room. Apart from the tan and the 70´s pornstar hair, Jon is well, having just got over a cold over Christmas
Move south in Lima down to the popular Miraflores area and the Flying Dog Backpackers really friendly atmosphere. Really modern buildings in Lima, well developed only the local Campesinos selling from stands on street corners, give a clue to where you are. A group of us from the hostel headed down to Barranco area of town where all the bars and clubs are. Danced the night away till 3am
Lazy day, up for free breakfast in the nearby cafe, fried egg and toast. Wandered down to the beach area 15 minutes walk away, really good views of the coast, Para Gliding, and expensive bars. Tapas is part of the Happy Hour after 10pm in a nearby bar.
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Soyus Peru bus company take us from Lima down the south coast to Pisco, well if we had got off at the correct stop that would have been the case. We miss our stop, which was just a junction in the road, and get dropped off middle of nowhere on the Pan-American highway being assured that a combis will be passing soon. Sure enough within 10 minutes get picked up by battered old minibus heading back to Pisco. As more and more people join the bus will all assorted cooking pots and pans, it gets a little cramped but fun enough!!. Pisco is a small town with the usual tree lined town square where people congregate every day night and enjoy the activities near by. Stay at the ´La Reserva´ Hostel, very clean, hot water and cable TV !! Just like home!!
Up at 0700 to catch Zarcillos Tour bus to take us to the port where we catch a boat to the Islas Ballestas a small island 30 minutes out where sea lions, Humbolt and American Peguins, Cormorants, and sea gulls are the only inhabitants, oh apart from the guano collectors. These guys swing on ropes collecting the bird dropping (guano) to sell as fertilisers. In the afternoon, get a bus tour round the desert park of Paracas, no Flamingos this time of year, but the landscape is remarkable.
Have a quick stop in Ica before heading to the nearby Huacachina, a desert oasis resort (Pictured on the 50 Sol note). Here hostels have built up around the natural oasis in the desert. Sandboarding and beach buggies are the order of the day, being recommended to set off in the afternoon, when you can at least rest on the sand without burning yourself, we set off at 4.30 with a group of about 25. The scenery in the desert is remarkable, and a few fast runs over lips gets us all worked up to try the sandboarding. After no tuition we all set off belly boarding head first down very steep dunes. Ok next run I will remember to keep my mouth shut !! After a couple more runs we move on to a really big dune, to try standing up. I kind of get the hang of it, its not quite snowboarding as you cannot carve turns, but get up some speed before landing head first again !! All good fun. BBQ back at Casa de Arena was a bit of a let down, food and drink wise, but people were excellent, lots of Aussies, French, American, and Canadians
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Again a brief stop in Ica before heading to Nazca, this tome on Ormeno bus company, Royal Class !! Excellent aircon bus manage to get some free food as well for the 2 hour journey to Nazca I find Nazca a little nicer than Pisco, I can place my finger on it but just feels nicer. Excellent Chinese before a few beers with the locals watching the sun set over the town square. We are staying in an excellent hostel, just out of town called Via Morburg (s/15 per night, approx 2.50 in UK), we are the only people staying and have the pool to ourselves. Well us and the flys which are dead floating on the surface...
Get picked up at 7.00 and taken to the airport, eventually get on small 6 seater plan at 10.30 for the 35 minutes flight over the Nazca lines. These lines were only discovered in the last century, and are believed to be the Nazca people’s drawings to their spirit gods, and prayers for water. In the end no water came so the Nazca people died out !! 
There are symbols for whale, monkey, condor etc, have a look here for more... The flight was excellent, but more like a rollercoaster ride as the pilot circles both directions, so both sides of the plane can see the lines. This all became a bit too much for the two Italians in front of us who promptly lost their breakfasts. Caught a late bus from Nazca to Arequipa (8 hours), this time Cial, it has to be the most comfortable bus I have ever been on, fully reclining seats, and air con. I would have slept more but the windy mountain pass and a Schumacher driver meant I kept waking up almost falling off the seat. Arrived in Arequipa 7am and find our second choice hostel (Los Balcones de Santa Catalina bit pricy but good view of the Cathedral) free to crash for a few hours. We then head down to the Main square and indulge in a slap up Steak at ´El gaucho Parrillades´ with an excellent bottle of wine. The Kibosh nightclub was a bit of a let down, being the only ones in there at 1am..
Breakfast in Hostel, the usual continental affair, getting a bit sick of the freeze drier coffee. Head down to the Nuns Monastery Santa Catalina, where nuns have live for 400+ years. In early times it was only rich family who sent there second eldest to the convent, here they lived the high life with up to 5 man slaves till they were cleaned up. Nuns still live there now, in a modern section of the citadel. It was extremely peaceful wandering around the 80+ rooms that once housed these nuns. A recommended trip and worth the s/25 price. Met up with some Swiss girls we had met in Nazca for a few beers in the least Irish pub I have ever been in !!! But did go to an excellent pizza restaurant called ´Pizzaria Los Lenos´ where a wood burning over is used.
Up fairly late, and move to our first choice Hostel ´Hospadaje El Caminante Class´, like the flying dog backpackers a really nice atmosphere here, with all the rooms backing on to shared toilet facilities. Just investigating town today, and look at trekking options to the more distant, but deeper Canyon de Cotahuasi. Not many tours available as it is 11hours drive away, arrange to meet Julio a local guide, who can give us the low down tomorrow morning at 11. Head out to an Italian for dinner, a local comes up and asks us something about chess, at which point Jon and I thought he had lost a chess piece, so we both stuck our heads under the table to look for the piece, it turns out he was asking if we wanted a game !!! Head again to the Irish Bar with a group from the Hostel, and play on the worst pool table in the world.
Following conversation with Julio, translated in part by the Hostel Owner, Senora Daisy, the constant rain will make Catahuasi impossible, we therefore book a tree day trek in the nearby Canyon de Colca ($43) which is where we will be heading tomorrow..... Visit the Museo Santuarios Andio, which holds the Ice Mummies of the Sacrificed Children of the Inca People. Very good guided tour. The Inca People gave Human Sacrifices all over their empire which stretched from North Ecuador to Chile when the needed kindness from the gods. On recommendation from Lonely Planet, not great service but ok food, we leave 2 Sol tip, the waiter comes back and says that is not enough as Service is not included and he wanted 10% ?? The menu only says ´Service not included´ and the service did not warrant any more than 2 sols, he said we should speak to the manager, after the manager refused to come to us, we left!! this restaurant is not recommended !!
Start at 5.30 am quick cup of Coca tea before being picked up by our guide Pepe for 3 day trek to
Colca Canyon we pick up an Argentinean girl Viviana who will be doing the trek with us. Following 3 1/2 hour bumpy Bus ride to Chivay, we continue by bus to Cabanaconde where we stop for a lunch of
alpaca meat (small lama) really nice. Then we set off for three hour descent into the Canyon. Heading to ´San Juan de Chocho´. The views are awesome, we have views of Mismi Volcano, the source of the Amazon, cross the river at Puete San Juan. There are no roads here, the only contact for people here is to walk or travel with donkey/mule out of the canyon..
We stay the night at ´Casa de Roy´ (Roys house), an really nice small homestead, which is growing for the tourism, on one of the terraces built into the side of the canyon, which is supplied water from the aqueducts that people have used here for 1000 of years. Pepe is a really good guide, and talks about the history of the people and the plants and there uses. The walking is pretty easy, being downhill, apart from trying to avoid the donkeys that pass you on the narrow trail, have to do some rock climbing to avoid some and fall!! The contrast between the watered areas and not is striking, many terraces are being abandoned, due to the lack of rain global warming is certainly having an effect here. Dinner is three courses, vegetables and pasta soup, Soya with rice and onion and tomato sauce a yogurt with fruit and nuts, really nice.
For more images see here and here
Left at 10.00 from Casa de Roy to traverse the canyon passing through Cosnirhua and Malta, two small villages, which each have a church and football field, Malta even has a hospital with electricity via a solar panel to power the phone there. It is really peaceful walking round the canyon and Pepe talking about the plants and their uses. We also visit a small farm and see the bees and fruit, chatting to the owner and buying some fresh Avocados and Honey. We descend into the canyon and stay the night in a Tourist Oasis of Sangalle, very basic but the swim in the pool, feed from the Colca river is a relief from the walking. After another excellent meal prepared by Pepe, we finish a bottle of Ron a local brew, a bit like Gin. Meet up with another group of two French girls Stephanie and Serena with their guide Henry. End up
talking and drinking till about 1am
No sooner had we crashed, than Pepe was waking us up at 3am for the trek out of the canyon, 3 hours over 4km but ascending 1km up !!! hard work in the dark, and got harder as we got over 3000m, but the views of the canyon were all worth it, when we reached the top. A quick trek through maize fields got us back to Canaconde and a short bus ride to Cruz del Condor to spot Condors and get breakfast. No luck with seeing condors we headed to the nearby hot baths near Chivay, this was bliss, soaking in open aired swimming pools in 85 degree hot water !! After lunch we were stuck in Chivay due to local Coach strikes for 4 hours, before the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Arequipa. We found the Irish bar in Chivay, and having woken up the owner, played a couple of games of pool over a beer or two.... Back in Arequipa meet up with the others from the trek for pizza and dancing in a local night club.
Relaxing today in Arequipa, nice warm shower etc.... heading to Cuzco tomorrow to book 4 day Inca Trail
back to topAnother Chilling day in Arequipa, waste most of the morning in the square, we have bus tonight to Cusco, overnight again, at 19.30. Cial again, very comfortable, we are at the front of the top deck, but have to shut the curtains, since the driver overtakes anything anywhere...
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Arrive in Cusco around 7am, and head for the recommended Hostel Resbalosa, the stairs are a killer from a main square, made even harder by the fact we are now 3300 Meters !!! Get settled in triple room, and go to grab a bite to eat, when, we get back the owner has moved all our stuff to another room!!! We then pretty much crash for the afternoon, but bump into Serena and Stephanie from the Colca trek, and meet them for Pizza later.
Book Inka 4 day trek (to start 27th) with SAS Travel quite expensive but has a very good reputation, and pays the porters well ($295). End up at Mythology night club for a few later on. Cusco is a very touristy town, quite nice but not really what I am looking for. More like a small Ibiza, pubs showing movies in the day and the turning into nightclubs at night.
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Up at 7am for Taxi tour (with our driver Bere) of the Sacred valley we have arranged with Stephanie and Serena. Quick photo stop of Pisac, head up to the ruins, which are breathtaking. We are ahead of the tours so can enjoy the spender in piece (with the exception of the flute music, which a local is providing which is haunting around the valley).
The ruins are vast and we eventually get back to the taxi 2 hours later, for our next stop Pisac market, very touristy, it gave me a change to pick up some pan pipes and a CD ´Tito de Rosa´. Next stop was Ollantaytambo, the central town in Inka time for trading, this city was built in the shape of a lama, and has carvings on the mountain opposite, that would cast shadows in the sun temple on Summer Solstice. Our last stop of the day was Moray Moras, the Inka Gardening Experiment. Here Terraces where cut in a circle to create different microclimates, here they could test what crops would grow best where !! very clever, see the photos for more
Prep day for Inka trek, Go round Inka Museum, really good, Try to watch Oceans 12 in local bar, but DVD keeps sticking, so see the first half 3 times.... eventually see the end.
Also get some shopping done in town and find a shop to develop my films onto CD for $3 per film, excellent...
Up at 6am for start of the Inka trek, there are 14 of us doing the Inka trek, with 2 guides and 19 porters !!!!, you can see why they have to restrict the numbers. Quick stop for breakfast over Urabamba, fresh fruit, then head for km 82 over bumpy roads and start of the trail, it seems like a good group of people, two couples some 20 some things oh and Jon and I. Weather is holding out for us ! Let hope it stays like that. Following the checkpoint at the start of the trail and a check of our passports we are on our way across a suspension bridge. It is comfortable walking the first day allowing people to get to know each other and chat. It is quite different from normal travelling, as the group will be together for 4 days, so we will get to know each other better than most passing travellers. I am really looking forward to this as most people are. Machu Picchu is the reason many people come to Peru and South America !!!
We stop for out lunch on the trail, and are all amazed to see a communal tent complete with table, tablecloth, chairs all erected by our porters. I feel a little guilty/annoyed to see one of the porters having to just sit there and hold up the tent while when we arrived. It really shows that these good guys were going to be our slaves for the week!!! First set of ruins at Llactapata, our excellent and our guide Victor shows a lot of knowledge, fairly easy walking to get to our first camp site at Wayllabamba, our porters are already there with tents up preparing the food for the evening. 3 course meal of soup, chicken and rice and then desert !! excellent, we will certainly not go hungry!!! One of our group Nina, has gone back and will meet us later in Aguas Calientes / Machu Picchu. The Porters all play football and some diving practice through fences !!! No one was hurt though !! End up playing cards and the Universal card game ´Shithead´. Hit the tents by about 11pm
Up at 7am for start of the hardest day, 1km up to walk. from Wayllabamba (300m) to Warmiwanusca (Dead womans pass) (4198m) back down to our camp at Pacaymayo (3600m). It’s a killer at the altitude, and when we get to the top of dead womans pass (4198m) we are all shattered !! The weather is ok to start with but the clouds close in at the top so we head down to camp at Pacaymayo pretty quickly.
The scenery on route is as breath taking as it was yesterday it reminds me a lot of walking in Wales, but these mountains are much bigger!!! I really enjoy the path down jogging with a couple of French guys from another group for some of the way. Have my usual Spanglish / sign language conversation with the porters, they are always so cheerful and happy. After a freezing cold shower the others are arriving. Camp sites are clean and organised, but we have to wait for 3rd night for warm showers !!! Again sleeping on an incline and keep waking up in a ball at one end off the tent, and you can really tell the difference in the temperature at this altitude, it’s really cold !!! We arrive in camp around 4 so have all afternoon to relax, the clouds come and go and give us glimpses of the stunning scenery around us. After Tea and Dinner, we all camp in the communal tent for more cards, this time spoons gave a good attempt to kill the tent and table, to great amusement to the porters !!! A few people are feeling under the weather today mainly with dodge stomachs!!
Up again at 7am for start of the unforgettable day, from our camp site through the high jungle through ruins at Sayacmarka and Phuyupatamarka down to our camp site at Wnaywayna. most people found it quite cold last night,
but excellent breakfast by the porters picks up our spirits!! weather today is pretty crappy no raining much but just in the clouds, find out my waterproofs do not actually stop any water !!! oh well.. excellent views of Inka cities, cannot wait to see Machu Picchu now. Last night is at Wnaywayna, which has lodge electric and hot showers. There are about 200 people here tonight, as all the groups have to camp here on the last night. Seems more like a night on Ibiza than on the Inka Trek. There are lots of Argentineans about and after the last supper prepared by the porters music starts and the disco begins!!! I am pretty much out of it suffering from sun stroke, and dehydration. We say goodbye to our porters who were excellent and Alex (USA) gives an excellent speech to say thanks.
Up at 4am for start to start queuing after breakfast for last checkpoint. We still have 2 hours to get to the sun gate which is clouded over, so we press on and reach Machu Picchu just as the clouds are clearing. It is absolutely breathtaking, everything you imaging and more. After a quick tour by our guide, we head up the mountain behind (Huayna Picchu) via the moon temple, it takes 2hours plus in the slippery conditions but is well worth it. After quick bus ride to Aguas Callientes and lunch we head to the hot springs with some of the others to sooth aching limbs !! Victor our guide leaves us early which is a bit strange, but he does have a 20 day old baby at home !!! Excellent Train journey to Ollantaytambo gets us back to the SAS bus which gets us back to Cusco.
We arrange with the whole group at the Blue Martini bar later, to say our goodbyes. Jon and I have a quick bite to eat with Sofia and Kerry, two Australians who were on the trek with us and are at our hostel (Resbalosa, the steps are still a killer !!) And we meet the rest of the group in the bar, all happy from the experience. I am really happy we had such an excellent group and good weather, it wouldn’t have quite been the same with rain every day, particularly on day 2. Alia (from London), Kerry, Sofia, Jon and I end up last in the bar, where wee top a 400 s/ bar tab, playing spoons and a box with the staff. ( will explain the box later :-) !!) One of the staff Vanessa (form Lima) then tries to get us into some of the local clubs in Cusco, we end up in Mythology at about 4am, and keep on dancing till the next morning we our choosing our own songs from the DJ (from Argentina). Can’t quite believe it after 4 days trekking but there you go.
Having put Alia in a taxi we head back to Resbalosa for sunnies, Jon crashes (he is leaving tonight) Sofia, Kerry and I head out for Breakfast, in a roundabout route end up back in the square, once we had got some replacement thongs for Sofia. Decide to head to the museum near Santa Domingo Church, it is really small, but with some fascinating mummies. After we crash on the park outside for a couple of hours, which is just what is required. Must have been the energy of Machu Picchu working on us last night!!! We crash in the afternoon and meet up for Jon’s farewell in the square. Alex, Alia, Kerry, Sofia, After quick bite to eat in Irish Pub hit Mama Americas, pretty busy night bit of dancing etc... We all head back to Hostel to help Jon finish his packing and Sofia, Alia and I walk down with him to put him in a cab to Cusco Airport. Farewell mate c u soon !!! Sofia, Alia and I end up back in the Mythology night club, where a poor puppy was being paraded around by a young girl, in the deafening noise of the club !!
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